The Skyscraper at SKYPLEX announcement by David and Joshua Wallack, the owners of Mango’s Tropical Café Orlando and Mango’s Tropical Café South Beach, is the latest in the revitalization of I Drive in Orlando.
The Skyscraper, the world’s tallest roller coaster, and the unique 495,000 square feet SKYPLEX indoor entertainment complex will break ground in 2015 with an expected opening date of 2016, and will be built on 12 acres with 300 front feet at International Drive and Sand Lake Road near the Orlando Eye 425-foot ferris wheel.
A look at the current
The Skyscraper at SKYPLEX location.
The Skyscraper at SKYPLEX will bring a mix of retail, restaurant, and attraction space that along with Mango’s Orlando will create an exciting nighttime vibe on I Drive.
“Next to our theme parks, International Drive is one of the most recognized icons of Orlando,” said Visit Orlando president and CEO George Aguel. “It’s exciting for our tourism community to see this type of investment being made to continuously raise the bar on the dining and entertainment experiences we offer across our destination.”
The Skyscraper at SKYPLEX is 570 feet tall and will feature the first Polercoaster built. This mega-thrill ride is a vertical roller coaster created with coaster-length tracks featuring “all the other thrilling mayhem” of a great coaster experience, but “in a very small footprint,” according to Michael Kitchen, President of US Thrill Rides, the Orlando based company that created the ride.
Bill Kitchen, Founder of US Thrill Rides and creator of the Polercoaster said “Not only will the ‘Skyscraper’ coaster be the world’s tallest, we believe it will be the most thrilling. There will be incredible heart-pounding inside and outside loops, dives, spirals and inversions like the world has never seen.”
The SKYPLEX observation deck at the tip of the tallest structure in Central Florida will offer views 535 feet from the ground. To get there, visitors will ride in the region’s tallest glass elevators.
“We’re extremely excited about creating a record-breaking, must-try attraction on International Drive,” said Joshua Wallack, Mango’s Tropical Café chief operating officer, who also will open a Mango’s Orlando next year across International Drive from SKYPLEX. “Nowhere in the world will you have two iconic structures like The Skyscraper and the Orlando Eye. This will be an incredible opportunity for International Drive.”
Wallack and his father David are partners in the mixed-use development that includes opportunities for additional attractions, entertainment, interactive venues, restaurants and retail to include a two-story prime retail space on International Drive. The SKYPLEX indoor entertainment complex including the observatory and restaurant and lounge at the top of the Skyscraper was designed by global architectural firm HHCP, based in Orlando, and will be constructed by Euforria, a construction management division of Winter Park Construction, based in Winter Park, Fla.
“Imagine a night of incredible dining, lounging and dancing atop a glass elevator ride 55 stories into the air,” said David Wallack. “It’s a true meeting of engineering, technology and art that is making this dream happen for us. We plan to bring Ocean Drive to I-Drive with a new dining and nightlife district that locals and Orlando visitors won’t want to miss.”
We are excited about all that The Skyscraper at SKYPLEX will be bringing to Orlando, and we’ll be updating you as the complex is built.
For more information about The Skyscraper at SKYPLEX, you can visit www.skyplex.com.
Share this article:
Follow us for more updates:
